Business groups say they are hoping for the quick formation of a stable government and are concerned about the Greens holding the Senate balance of power.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it is vital that business activity continues as usual in Australia during the current period of political uncertainty.

Chamber chief executive Peter Anderson says the economy must continue to grow during the caretaker period and when a minority government is formed.

He says party leaders and the key independent politicians must maintain Australia's reputation as a stable place to do business while the state of the parliament is resolved.

However he also says business has a role to play during this period itself.

"The business community also needs to ensure that the Australian economy is well respected nationally and internationally," he said.

"We can do that by getting on with the doing of business, not putting investment decisions on hold and not adding to any uncertainty."

Mr Anderson says he hopes the Greens will become a more pragmatic political party when it gains the balance of power in the Senate, with nine Greens senators in the Upper House of Parliament from July next year.

He says the Greens will need to adjust their stance on some economic issues to ensure necessary reforms can be made.

"There are many aspects of their platform which do not correspond with the platform of the major parties, and which do not correspond with views of the business community," he warned.

"The Australian Greens will need to recognise that there is significant compromise necessary if we are going to achieve a stable outcome."

The Australian Industry Group is also concerned about the prospect of deals being done with the Greens and various independents to secure their support.

"There are issues of course where the Greens differ greatly with business. Industrial relations is one - their views on industrial relations really do... they're not in the interest of business," its chief executive Heather Ridout told Radio National Breakfast.

"For example, the ABCC [Australian Building and Construction Commissioner] issue is huge but it goes much beyond that. So we'll be urging the Greens to better understand the fact that we need to preserve the competitiveness of Australian industry in whatever deal is done."

Mrs Ridout says she has been reassured by comments from various independents indicating their primary goal is to help form a stable government.

However, she says the longer negotiations drag on the bigger the risk of damage to business confidence and the economy.

"We're worried that without a pretty clear understanding about what sort of agreement's going to be struck between the independents, we're not going to have much certainty and we're not going to have a government that really will have the courage to do the big things, and I think that is a concern for business," she added.

Various industries and companies will also be hoping they will not lose out from the increased power of independents and the Greens, including mining companies, Telstra and the major banks.

As she announced a $1.4 billion three month profit on Monday, Westpac's chief executive Gail Kelly said she hopes the banking sector will not be used as a political bargaining tool.

"I'm hoping, as we all are, that it sort of settles its way through quite quickly because stability is something that we're all looking for," she said.

"There's been no indication that banking issues are going to actually become the lightning rod for anything, and certainly that would be our hope."

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.